Origin of pool

pool

2

[pool]

noun

Also called pocket billiards. any of various games played on a pool table with a cue ball and 15 other balls that are usually numbered, in which the object is to drive all the balls into the pockets with the cue ball.

the total amount staked by a combination of bettors, as on a race, to be awarded to the successful bettor or bettors.

the combination of such bettors.

an association of competitors who agree to control the production, market, and price of a commodity for mutual benefit, although they appear to be rivals.

Finance. a combination of persons or organizations for the purpose of manipulating the prices of securities.

a combination of resources, funds, etc., for common advantage.

the combined interests or funds.

a facility, resource, or service that is shared by a group of people: a car pool; a typing pool.

the persons or parties involved.

the stakes in certain games.

British. a billiard game.

Fencing. a match in which each teammate successively plays against each member of the opposing team.

verb (used with object)

to put (resources, money, etc.) into a pool, or common stock or fund, as for a financial venture, according to agreement.

to form a pool of.

to make a common interest of.

verb (used without object)

to enter into or form a pool.

adjective

of or belonging to a pool: a pool typist; a pool reporter.

Origin of pool

2

First recorded in 1685–95,pool is from the French word poule stakes, literally, hen. See pullet

pool

n.1

"small body of water," Old English pol "small body of water; deep, still place in a river," from West Germanic *pol- (cf. Old Frisian and Middle Low German pol, Dutch poel, Old High German pfuol, German Pfuhl). As a short form of swimming pool it is recorded from 1901. Pool party is from 1965.

pool

n.2

game similar to billiards, 1848, originally (1690s) a card game played for collective stakes (a "pool"), from French poule "stakes, booty, plunder," literally "hen," from Old French poille "hen, young fowl" (see foal (n.)).

Perhaps the original notion is from jeu de la poule, supposedly a game in which people threw things at a chicken and the player who hit it, won it, which speaks volumes about life in the Middle Ages. The notion behind the word, then, is "playing for money." The connection of "hen" and "stakes" is also present in Spanish polla and Walloon paie.

Meaning "collective stakes" in betting first recorded 1869; sense of "common reservoir of resources" is from 1917. Meaning "group of persons who share duties or skills" is from 1928. From 1933 as short for football pool in wagering. Pool shark is from 1898. The phrase dirty pool "underhanded or unsportsmanlike conduct," especially in politics (1951), seems to belong here now, but the phrase dirty pool of politics, with an image of pool (n.1) is recorded from 1871 and was in use early 20c.

pool

v.1

"to make a common interest, put things into a pool," 1871, from pool (n.2). Related: Pooled; pooling.